The Egg of the Phoenix
by smash000adams
Summary: Roxanne Oxford is recovering from a tragic event that happened nearly three years ago. When she meets George Weasley, the quest for recovery becomes a journey for two. GWxOC
1. Prologue

It was around four o' clock in the morning when seventeen year old Roxanne Oxford heard the phone ring in her tiny apartment. Reluctantly, she woke up and answered the call.

"Where are you?" a female shakily voiced over the phone. "What are you doing?"

"Mom? I'm sleeping in my room. What hap-"

"Get over here. Roxanne, please, come home." Roxanne's mother sobbed. Roxanne put down the phone and grabbed her wand next to her bed. After apparating to her parent's living room, she found her mother crying on the burnt carpeted floor with the phone still up to her ear. Through her mother's sobbing she heard her named still being said to come home.

"Mom, I'm here. Where's Dad?" Roxanne asked, though by surveying the state of her parent's home, Roxanne was able to answer her own question. She followed the burnt trail on the carpet and walls to the kitchen, where a disgusting odor was being produced. In the ashy and blacked kitchen, Roxanne was able to decipher two burned bodies.

"Rusty!" Mrs. Oxford called out from the living room. "Your Dad and Rusty!"

Roxanne stood still in the archway of the kitchen and dropped her wand. She noticed that one of the bodies, located in the center of the kitchen, had its eyes open; one brown, one hazel, just like Roxanne. Those heterochromia eyes, that Roxanne shared, belonged to her father. The other horribly burnt body in the corner was then Rusty, Roxanne's older brother. A knife handle was sticking in his chest and gleamed very faintly in the dim amber light of the house. The quiver of Roxanne's lip sent her back to her senses. Tearing her eyes off her two deceased family members, she swooped up her wand, found her mother's car keys, and swiftly left for the living room. Roxanne's plan was to drive close to her small wizard inhabited apartment and walk the rest of the way; Roxanne couldn't risk apparating both her and her mother when her emotional state was in the toilet.

"We have to leave." Roxanne said to her mom who was still holding the phone and crying on the floor. "Mom, we have to get to my place." Roxanne pried her mother's hands off the phone and tried to pick her up.

"No! I can't leave them here!" she yelled as she resisted Roxanne's attempts to get her to stand. "We can't, Roxanne." She pleaded.

"We need to go now!" Roxanne begged for her mother to get up. Once she did, Roxanne ran out the front door with her mother on her arm. She put her wailing mother in the passenger seat of her car and quickly ran to the driver seat. After wiping away some tears that had crept out of her eyes, Roxanne shut the door and drove as fast as she could to her apartment.

Along the way a police officer came behind Roxanne and signaled for her to turn over. She swiped her arm over her face to take off any tear streaks on her cheeks, slowed down to a stop, and brought her window down. Her mom was still wailing and sobbing as hard as ever and Roxanne knew it would be impossible to calm her down. As the officer walked up to the window, Roxanne tightened her grip on the black leather steering wheel.

"Not so good morning, ma'am?" The officer asked when looking into the car. "What's that in your hand? I'm going to have to ask you to put it down." Roxanne looked at her left hand and found that she was still holding onto her wand. She did as he said and gingerly placed it on the dashboard.

"Are you aware that you are speeding ma'am?" he asked. She shook her head slowly while looking at the road in front of her. "Do you have an excuse? Is there a reason to her crying and the state her clothes are in?" he asked pointing to the shaking Mrs. Oxford who was clad in a burnt nightgown.

"My dad and brother were burned in a fire at my mom's house." Roxanne said slowly. "I didn't feel we were safe there."

"A fire? Has it died down?"

"Yes." Roxanne whispered.

"And your dad and brother?" Roxanne shook her head and started to cry. "The two of you are going to come with me." The police officer said as he pulled open the car door.

In a matter of minutes, Roxanne and her mother were being escorted in the back of a police cruiser to return to their home. When they had reached their destination, two other police cars were already there when a neighbor had called in about an apparent fire. The neighbor, Mrs. Benson, took in the tearful Roxanne and Mrs. Oxford as police inspected the bodies of Mr. Oxford and Rusty.

Roxanne and her mom sat in a couch as Mrs. Benson went to make tea. Roxanne was the first to talk, asking her mother what had happened.

"A man came to our house," her mother said, "He walked-just came in and walked in our house-and called us horrible names." She took in a shaky breathe and began speaking in an angry tone that Roxanne had never heard from her mother.

"It's your entire fault." Mrs. Oxford spat. "All this deal with magic and wizarding and us so called 'muggles.' That man had a wand and burned your father and Rusty."

"Mom, you can't blame this on me." stammered Roxanne. "I love you, dad, and Rusty. That's why I moved. It's not my-You can't…"

Mrs. Oxford stood up and went to the kitchen to get some tea, or more likely, to get away from Roxanne. From the couch, Roxanne searched for a secluded spot in the house. She found a spot under the stairs and was about to walk over to apparate to her apartment, but she remembered that the police officer wouldn't let her bring her wand.

Roxanne left Mrs. Benson's house and began walking to her mother's car which was about twenty minutes away, on a country road. She snatched her wand off the dashboard and sat still in the driver's seat, her one hazel eye turning golden. The morning light was just beginning to appear and the scenery around the dingy light blue car was silent. The green grass swayed slightly because of the wind, and sparkled from the dewdrops that had appeared overnight; something that happens everyday. 'Life's already moving on,' observed Roxanne, 'and I'm not ready.'


	2. Chapter 1

Roxanne Oxford awoke in her one room apartment to a loud knocking on her door. When she proceeded to open her door, a loud bang, followed by white smoke, nearly gave the twenty-year-old a heart attack. The billowy white smoke faded and revealed a note from the building's owner. By this time, Roxanne's neighbors had stuck their nosy heads out of their doors, shaking them disapprovingly. Quickly, Roxanne snatched the note off the floor and shut the door behind her. With her back against the black door, she read the letter.

"I'm getting evicted?" The news was so surprising that Roxanne began talking to herself. "How could this happen? Wait…" Roxanne thought about the previous year. Everything had seemed to just fly by, and she couldn't remember the last time she had been paid. She freshened up and dressed to go to Diagon Alley.

* * *

The streets were filled, just like how it had been before Voldemort was a threat. Now that he was killed nearly nine months ago, everyone was living as if it had not happened. Only the people who had lost a loved one knew the difference between their lives before and after the wars. It somewhat sickened Roxanne that masses of wizards and muggles who didn't take part in the war still lived their lives ungratefully when others had died for their safety.

The war, which Roxanne took part in of course, at least had one good thing to offer: it showed who everyone really was. It showed Roxanne who to be friends with and who to be enemies with. In the face of evil, people show their true colors, and Roxanne really saw the different shades of everyone she knew. War knows how to shave the layers of its victims, tear down their walls, and peel away the masks that cover them up. All that is left is their soul; small, faint, and raw.

Roxanne opened the grimy door to the large wizarding bookshop, Flourish & Blotts, where she worked as an assistant. She greeted the other working assistant, with long dirty blond hair and blue eyes, who simply threw a small nod in her direction and muttered, "Shiveley's in the back."

Roxanne traveled towards the back of the shop, occasionally stepping over small stacks of books, and found Mr. Shiveley who was sleeping on, apparently, nothing. He looked white and shriveled and smelled of the old dusty books that lived in his shop. Walking closer to him, Roxanne was wondering how he was able to sleep in thin air. Mr. Shiveley must have sensed her presence because he awoke at a start.

"Oxford!" proclaimed Mr. Shiveley.

"Mr. Shiveley!" Roxanne was quite taken aback at his sudden awakening and booming voice and accidentally bumped into a nearby bookcase. The shelf right at the ceiling released its books and came crashing down on Roxanne. "I came to talk to you-" she attempted to say beneath the books.

"I'm glad you came to talk to me, Ms. Oxford, because we need to talk about you!" Barked Mr. Shiveley, as he helped dig up Roxanne under the books. Roxanne had forgotten how loud Mr. Shiveley, a withering old man who tended a book shop, could be. "Look! We've gotten the latest invisible books and I've got them right here!" He said, proudly gesturing towards the unseen stack. "Well, anyways, back to you. You haven't been coming to work lately, Ms. Oxford and the other employees have been complaining." He eyed Garret, the other assistant, who was carrying a stack of books past them. Garret locked his eyes with Roxanne's and merely shrugged. "It has come to my attention that this job calls for you to come to work everyday and you haven't been doing that. I know you have gone through hard times with your family years ago, but we feel that you are still in the stages of recovering and you are not stable to work as of right now. I'm letting you go, Ms. Oxford, and it seems you need to let go of some things also. Sorry."

Roxanne stared at Mr. Shiveley's wrinkled white face. She said nothing. At the back of her mind, she wondered if crying would make him feel guilty. "You've got a bruise in the upper left corner of your cheek." He pointed out. "The shop at Number 93 has a remover for that. So long Ms. Oxford." Roxanne stood there awhile longer and turned to leave.

"Best of luck, Oxford." Garret said as Roxanne headed out the door. She couldn't believe that ignorant jerk had just said that, but she let it go, she always let his snarky comments go. Roxanne felt a dull ache on her cheek and pressed the spot that Mr. Shiveley had described. She grimaced, and decided to go to Number 93, whatever shop that was.

She skulked to the shop, thinking about what had happened. She only had a week to get out of her tiny apartment, and had no way to get money or a place to live. She tried thinking of her small amount of friends, but none of them had their own place yet. Roxanne reached shop Number 93, a joke shop that was filled with customers. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the sign above the roof said. Roxanne began to ponder about what Mr. Shiveley said earlier. The shop Roxanne had in mind was some kind of medicine shop, not a joke shop.

Peering inside, Roxanne saw all kinds of strange items being tested by the customers. Two employees, a young man and woman, wearing magenta robes, made sure that nothing too severe would happen to the customers and stood alert around the store. A third employee, with matching ginger hair as the young man, came out from the backroom carrying cages with mini sized Puffskeins. Roxanne's eyes followed the ginger haired man as he took the cages of the miniature Puffskeins and positioned them on a display.

'Weasley,' thought Roxanne. She noticed one of the red headed men immediately; the younger one was Ron Weasley, one of the huge contributions to the war. The other took Roxanne a bit harder to figure out. He looked around Roxanne's age and she thought back to her schooling. She remembered a giant 'W' in her seventh year exploding in the sky, Fred and George Weasley. He was a Weasley twin. They were the twins that caused trouble around campus and finally left for good with an enormous bang. Roxanne told Rusty all about it the day she had finished school. From how Rusty had taken it, Roxanne would say that he approved of the Weasley's actions.

She remembered seeing one of their names on the casualty list, but couldn't recall the name of the one who had died. Apparently, the surviving one had also lost an ear. She withdrew from the window she was looking through and was going to forget about the bruise remover when a "Now Hiring" flyer caught her eye in one of their windows. 'Maybe Mr. Shiveley knew they were looking for new workers?' Roxanne assumed. She had a brief moment of hesitation; meeting others who lost loved ones by the same cause made her nervous.

Having nothing else to lose, Roxanne made up her mind to venture into the shop. She traveled around the shelves and, in one instance, bumped into a teenage boy with a swelling purple tongue.

"Hold on a second!" Ron Weasley came over in a rush and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Did you steal a toffee?" The horrified boy shook his head, his growing purple tongue wagging side to side. "Well, there's no use lying. Come with me." He began leading the boy away when he spotted Roxanne and her bruised cheek. "Are there no more bruise removers? I'll come back with some. Just hold on, Miss."

Ron led the boy to the older Weasley who firmly grabbed the boy and disappeared into the back of the shop. About a minute later Ron came back to Roxanne carrying a small tube of the bruise remover. "Here." He said, handing over the tube. "I can't believe how thick some kids are. I mean the box even has a picture of what happens when you eat a Ton-Tongue Toffee. How'd you get that bruise, by the way? It's really big."

"Is it?" Roxanne asked. Ron nodded his head. "Well, I just got fired from my previous job." She said.

"So, that's how your boss fires people? Abusing them?"

"No! I worked in Flourish & Blotts. Some books fell on me before my boss fired me. He said I should come here to get a remover for the bruise." Roxanne explained. She followed Ron to the register.

"Is this all you need?" He inquired.

"Well…"

As Roxanne paid for the item, Ron said, "You know there is a job opening for my brother's store. I'm leaving for Auror training and Verity over there is leaving temporarily for family business. My brother George could really use the help." He handed Roxanne a bag with her purchase inside. "So what do you say?"

Roxanne surveyed the shop. A couple fireworks went off every now and then and she saw kids with nosebleeds. The other assistant, Verity, was trying to get a huge canary off the top of a shelf. Moments later, a girl had to be helped to get off the shelf. Roxanne turned back to Ron. "Sure."

He smiled and went to the back of the store. The boy from earlier emerged with his tongue a normal size. Following him was George who said, "Next time think twice when you try to steal from us. Or at least read the box." The boy shamefully nodded and left the store. George sighed and turned his attention to Roxanne. "Are you the one who is looking to work here?

"Yes. I'm Roxanne." She extended her hand and George shook it with his.

"I'm George Weasley."

Up close, George looked a bit worn around the edges. To sum up how Roxanne would describe him; he didn't look anything like a playful prankster. His frolicsome air from Hogwarts seemed to have been cut in half.

"Ron said you've been fired today, from your old job. What's the reason?" George asked.

"I missed some days…" confessed Roxanne.

"So, you know your mistake. Will you end up repeating it if you worked for me?"

"No."

"Okay then."

A minute passed as George looked at Roxanne's eyes; first her deep brown one, then her light hazel one. In return, Roxanne looked into his bright brown eyes. She was confused at what he just said. As if reading her mind, George answered, "I'll hire you."

"That's it? No papers?" proposed Roxanne.

"We can do papers later."

"Isn't there anyone else who wants the job?"

"If I was in your position, I wouldn't care about the other people who wanted this job. But to answer you question, not really." George said with a shrug. "Working here can be a bit freaky sometimes. You're up to it though, right?"

"How is the pay?"

"We'll discuss that later. But it'll be good, promise."

"I guess I'll take it then."

George told Roxanne to come back to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes the next day to see how they operate.

"I suggest that you wear clothes you don't mind getting wet or burnt a little bit." He added when Roxanne was going to leave. "Wait! What's your full name?"

"Roxanne Eloisa Oxford."

"We'll see you tomorrow, Roxanne. Take care of that bruise of yours." George smiled and his eyes seemed to gain a minuscule amount of mischievousness. Before Roxanne left, she smiled back and gave a wave of goodbye. When the door closed behind her, George walked up to the front window and watched as she walked away.

"Hm. She seems nice." Verity said as she observed George observe Roxanne's body walking off into the distance.

"Did you see her eyes?" Ron chipped in, joining George and Verity at the window. "She's pretty."

"I think Mr. Weasley agrees with you Ron." claimed Verity. Both employees turned to smirk at George, waiting to hear what he would say next.

"You know what?" George questioned with a slight smile. He gave both of them lively glances.

"What?" the two answered in unison. Immediately, George's smile faded, as Ron and Verity realized what they had done.

"You two should get back to work." murmured George. Ron and Verity guiltily looked away and went to tend the store.

George stayed a bit longer at the window staring at nothing in particular. Then he pulled away and headed for the backroom. As he passed Ron, George tried not to look at him.

"George, you're fine." Ron insisted.

"Am I?" He replied jeeringly, "Thanks for the compliment, Ron."


End file.
